Note: click photograph for a larger view.

These are the world famous Incan ruins of Machu Picchu, The Lost City of the Incas, situated on a mountain ridge in the Andes mountains of Peru. Lord willing, and the creek don’t rise, we’ll be headed to South America next year and hope to include Machu Picchu in our itinerary.

Machu Picchu was found in 1911 by Yale historian Hiram Bingham as he searched the region for the city of Vilcabamba, the last refuge of the Inca Empire before it fell to the Spaniards in 1572.

Machu Picchu was built around 1450 at the climax of the Inca Empire.  Bingham theorized that the site was the traditional birthplace of the Incan Virgins of the Sun. However, most recent archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was the estate of an Incan emperor, and a sacred religious site because of the positioning of landscape features that are reportedly in alignment with key astronomical events important to the Incas.

Machu Picchu became wildly popular with travelers after the National Geographic Society devoted an entire issue to the ruins in 1913. Subsequently, Machu Picchu has been designated at a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and in 2007 was voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

In recent years, Machu Picchu has become so popular with international travelers that local authorities have introduced entrance rules to reduce the impact of tourism on this historic site.  Only 2,500 people are allowed into Machu Picchu each day, and only 400 are allowed to climb up Huayna Picchu, the sharp peaked mountain in the background of the photograph above.

We’ll soon be helping clients of Roaming Boomer Travel Services make their way to Macchu Picchu, and would be honored to help you make this fabulous journey as well.

For more information, CLICK HERE

Photo credit: creative commons photo by mypetyak on Flickr